Marine Atlantic won’t sink truck spillage rule

PORT AUX BASQUES, Nfld. — Despite vocal opposition from seafood producers and a handful of trucking companies, Marine Atlantic isn’t going squishy on a policy that requires live seafood truckers to have water collection tanks installed on their equipment.

Some seafood shippers and trucking companies that transport fish and seafood from The Rock to the Maritimes say the ferry operator enacted the rule without any warning.

However, Marine Atlantic says the policy has been in place for years, and the ferry has been asking truckers for “compliance for quite some time.”

Recently, five truckers carrying live seafood were denied access to the ferry because fishy-smelling water was leaking from their trucks. They were permitted on the ferry only after the lobster and mussels had been repacked and the spillage contained.

That sparked an outcry from the Seafood Processors of Newfoundland and Labrador, whose director told media that live seafood must be stored under melting ice, and the drip water was essential.

Last week, the seafood association, along with Newfoundland and Labrador Aquaculture Industry Association, seven seafood companies, and several trucking companies met with Marine Atlantic to request a one-month reprieve.

However, Marine Atlantic told the groups that the policy wouldn’t be reversed and remains in effect.